Free Will vs. Fate in

FREE WILL VS. FATE IN THE "GOBLIN MARKET" The question of free will vs. fate has puzzled the human race for ages and yet, there appears to be no single definite answer to it.

What is more dominant, why does man have free will when he is tied down to the invincible force of fate? These questions make the readers of literature ponder over the existence of free will under the pervasive shadow of fate and this is exactly what readers will do when they close read Christina Rosetti's poem, Goblin Market. On the surface "Goblin Market" is a simple fairy tale with goblins and fairies.

But on deeper analysis and close study, there appears to be more than one dimension to the poem and thus many interpretations have been offered. We are not concerned as much with interpretation as we are with the question of free will and fate in the poem.

Was it Laura's fate to become a victim? Did she have no free will to emerge out of her condition on her own? Why did she have to have some Goblin food to survive? Lizzie is the one who has a stronger will power while Laura is the one with a weaker will.

This is evident from the fact that Lizzie is able to control herself and refuses to eat Goblin food while Laura gets hooked on food that has been described as "luscious" (61) and "sweet to tongue and sound to eye" (30). But despite the fact that this food is delicious, it is still damaging to humans. Laura is aware of this and yet finds herself unable to resist the temptation. She becomes a victim of fate because of weak will. This shows that when will is weak, fate takes over.

Lizzie on the other hand, is more capable of resisting the temptation. This is closely linked to their personalities. Laura is a risk taker and wants to try something new. She thus becomes a victim of her temptations unlike Lizzie who seeks to conform to societal norms.

Lizzie is thus a timid person but she is a hero because the story is written to eulogize "good women." Campbell adds, "Lizzie has completely assimilated the female social code and sees the woman's confined place and her domestic duty as sacred, while Laura is willing to risk breaking the code and the barrier in order to gain knowledge of the market-place forbidden to women" (403). Goblins in this case can be viewed as devil's agents who force people to commit sins.

Food items are presented as sins that man can get involved in if he doesn't have a strong will power. They are described in attractive terms (Bloom-down-cheek'd peaches, Swart-headed mulberries,/Wild free-born cranberries (5-14)), just like sins and vices that initially appear very tempting but are eventually harmful to one's soul. In the very same way, these fruits look attractive and are tasty but gradually rob the body of its vigor and beauty. Laura is a risk-taker and hence fell victim to a clever and tempting ploy.

Lizzie is timid and conforms to the norms and thus could save herself and later her sister. This is a rather puritanical argument but that's how the author presents it. But there is another thing which is far more important than their risk-taking capabilities. It is the ability of Lizzie to use her willpower to stop herself from going "astray" while the lack of the same makes Laura a victim of a pre-determined fate. But Laura did not completely lack free will.

What she lacked was will power to heal herself. But she does have free will or.